Archive | January, 2018

Twitter is all about relationships, growing your circle of influence, and yes, RELATIONSHIPS. The better (re: closer) your relationships on Twitter, the more likely people are to retweet your stuff, visit your Facebook page and websites, join your lists and buy your products. So how do you rapidly grow your Twitter following while wielding influence over your followers? Here are 5 tips…

1. Be Yourself. Often times people think they’re somehow ‘not good enough,’ and so they pretend to be something they’re not. The problem is people can smell a phony a mile away. Don’t attempt to be Mr. Know-it-All or Ms. Perfect because nobody is buying that nonsense, and even if they were, they want to know REAL people with real lives, real challenges, and real things to say. Always stay true to yourself because you are a one-of-a-kind original, and as they say, everyone else is already taken anyway.

2. Appreciate Your Followers. Re-tweet their best tweets (or the tweets that are the most important to them.) Give them a #FF, which means you’re recommending others follow them. Or even send them a direct message. In other words, don’t just interact – promote others and expect nothing in return. The more value you can give to others, the more they will like you, appreciate you, and want to reciprocate.

3. Connect With The Big Dogs. Whatever your niche is, find the influential people in your niche and engage them. Being seen with people in authority is one of the quickest ways to be seen as an authority yourself. Plus, their audience will also notice you, and you’ll gain followers who hold an avid interest in your particular niche.

4. Engage Engage Engage. Answer everyone who engages with you, and see how many followers you can engage yourself. You never know who is going to become your next big client or customer – it could be that new guy with only 5 followers as easily as it could be the seasoned Twitter person with 50,000 followers.

5. Add a Heap of Pizzazz. We’ve already said you need to be yourself, and this is perhaps the best advice anyone can give you. That said, it’s okay to take yourself up a notch. You are unique, so go ahead and amplify that uniqueness and be a little bit larger than life. Be friendlier than you are in real life, be a little bit more flamboyount, go ahead and have opinions (your REAL opinions, that is) and by all means, STAND OUT from the crowd. That last thing you want to do is be a wallflower.

And even if you’re shy in real life, that’s okay. This is the Internet, and so it’s not like trying to be the life of the party in real life – it’s more like portraying yourself in the best light, with the most fun, and the least inhibitions. Frankly, there is no better place for shy people than Twitter – it’s a great way to meet tons of people with absolutely zero risk. After all, you don’t have to send a tweet until you’re certain it says exactly what you want it to say – so you can get it right every time.

6. Have fun. Need I say more? People like to hang out with people who are having fun, and Twitter is no different. So go ahead, have a blast, let the good times roll, and watch your follower numbers increase accordingly!

If you’re serious about building your Internet business, then you’ve got to be serious about building your opt-in list. Nothing else can guarantee you financial security like having your own list of loyal, dedicated subscribers who read your emails, buy your products and act on your affiliate offers.

Here’s how to add a hundred or more subscribers week in and week out like clockwork, without any magic and without relying on SEO. And if you’re thinking 100 is too small of a number, know that this method can be ramped up significantly once you get the hang of it. One of the biggest mistakes new marketers make is thinking they’ve got to somehow add 5,000 subscribers to their list this week and another 50,000 next week, but it doesn’t work like that. As with anything else, start small, have a plan, and work your way up to the big numbers.

And one more thing – even if you only continue to add 100 subscribers to your list per week, in just 10 weeks from now you’ll have 1,000 subscribers on your list. And if you’re treating your list right, those 1,000 subscribers can mean another $1,000 or more PER month to you – or $12,000 per year. For many people, that’s enough to cover the mortgage or buy a brand new car every 2-3 years.

So let’s get started: The first thing you need is a squeeze page that converts your traffic into subscribers. Hopefully you already have one, but if you don’t, it’s an easy fix. Google “Squeeze page templates” and do some searching.

Upload the template of our choice to your web hosting, making whatever changes are necessary in the verbage, and add in your autoresponder code. If you don’t yet have an autoresponder, Google that too. There are many good ones out there with Aweber, GetResponse and MailChimp being among the most popular.

Now then, here’s where you’re going to get your traffic: First you’re going to locate fellow marketers in your niche who have their own email newsletter or list. You can do this by going to forums in your niche, pulling up the newsletters you subscribe to in your niches from your email box, and searching Google for additional newsletters in your niche. Your goal is to compile a list of marketers in your field who have their own emails lists.

Next, contact these marketers one by one with a personal email asking them if they would be interested in selling you a paid solo ad to their list, and ask them how much they would charge to send it out.

Before you get worried, know that this can be extremely cost effective. If you choose your lists intelligently, you might get a couple of hundred new subscribers for less than fifty dollars. Also be open to placing an ad inside their newsletter, preferably at the TOP of one of their mailouts as opposed to buried near the bottom.

Spending some time on Google should provide you with a list of potential newsletters, or if you want to save time, check out the Directory of Ezines. They tell you how many subscribers each list has and what they charge, along with other information that makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.

Not every ezine owner you contact will agree to a paid solo ad, but many will because they know it’s easy money for them. Keep in mind, you only need a few good ones to make this work. And yes, you are investing in your business to build your opt-in list using this method. But again, every subscriber you get can mean another $1 per month to you in income if you treat them right. Plus, you can actually MAKE money using this method – Here’s how…

During the opt-in process, make your new list member an offer they can’t refuse. This isn’t the time to go for the $197 sale – they don’t know you yet and have no reason to trust you. But if you can offer them tremendous value at a stupid low price, you’ll be accomplishing several things at once.

First, you’ll be giving them great value. How do you think they’re going to feel about you after they receive far more than they paid for? They’re going to feel great, and they’re going to be open to more offers from you. Heck, they will probably be LOOKING for more of your offers to take advantage of.

Second, you’re teaching them to buy from you. Once you make a sale to someone, that person is FAR more likely to buy from you again in the future. In fact, every new person on your list who buys from you – even if it’s just a $7 or $10 product – is easily worth 10 subscribers who have not purchased anything from you yet.

Third, you are recouping your advertising costs, and quite possibly making a profit.

Forth, you are FAR more likely to be remembered by your new customer because he or she has purchased from you. This means when you send them an email tomorrow, next week and next year, they’re more likely to open it and more likely to act on it.

Fifth, you are demonstrating that you give tremendous value for their money. Thus – and this ties in with the first 4 points – they are not only more likely to buy from you in the future – they’re also more likely to participate on your blog or forum, more likely to tell others, and more likely to promote your products if they happen to also be a marketer.

I simply cannot emphasize enough how important it is to make them a great offer from the very start. If you’ve got a powerful $47 product or $97 product that is perhaps getting stale, you might consider offering it to new subscribers for $7. Let them know this is their only chance at the deal, and go ahead and tell them the only reason you’re giving them such an amazing bargain is because you want to make a dynamite first impression and turn them into a raving fan.

One last point: Now that you’re building an email list, be sure to give them plenty of great information and education, along with plenty of soft sells. This will keep them happy, opening your emails, and purchasing your offers. Always respect your list, and never bombard them with a slew of offers and no content. If they suspect your only reason for emailing them is to make a buck, then you’ve lost. But if they can tell how much you care about them, they’ll remain your customers for a long, long time.

Blogging can be a great way to position yourself as an authority and create customer loyalty – if you’re willing to devote the time necessary.

Follow these 9 Tips for Better Business Blogging and you’ll be more successful!

1. Forgo the advertorial dribble. Decades ago some bright entrepreneur realized that if he wrote his sales copy to look like an editorial, he’d get more readers and more sales. Thus we entered into the age of the “advertorial,” and it still works in print publications. Where it does NOT work well is on your blog.

Yes, by all means advertise your products and services on your website, but don’t be devious about it. Don’t make it look like an article when it’s really a self-promotion – it annoys your readers and makes them feel let down when you’ve got them thinking they’re going to learn something new, only to discover they’ve got to pay to get it.

Thus, do not title your blog post, “Revealed: 35 Ways to Drive Traffic” and then reveal nothing about driving traffic except the order link to your new product. Instead, title your blog post, “Revealed: 5 Ways to Drive Traffic,” and then GIVE them the 5 ways. At the end, let them know that if they’re interested, you reveal 30 additional methods inside your product and give them the link. They’ll respect you for this, and because you’ve given them good information and demonstrated that you know what you’re talking about, it will actually INCREASE your sales.

2. Be the authority. This goes along with Tip #1, because when you’re dishing about all the latest updates in your industry rather than spending all your time promoting yourself, you become the expert in your prospects’ eyes. And who do people want to do business with? The expert. Who can charge more for their products and services? Again, the expert. Offer up the latest news along with plenty of how-to articles and your readers will come to like and trust you, and thus want to do business with you.

3. Educate, inform and inspire. Whenever possible, use real life stories to inspire your readers. Nothing sells like success, and people love to read how others have overcome the same challenges they’re having. Whenever you’re stuck for a blog post idea, just think, “What do my readers want to know? How can I help my readers and give them value?” Watch the forums for questions that pop up – this is an excellent source for ideas.

4. Show your personality. Building reader loyalty takes time and more than just great information – it also takes personality. Let your own unique style shine through in your posts, and don’t be afraid to reveal insights about yourself, and to even be controversial when it’s called for. Nothing rallies readers like a good controversy, and nothing makes readers more loyal than if they know you well enough to think of you as a friend.

5. Promote your blog. It would be great if you could write it and people would come, but it’s seldom that easy. Use your own network to promote your blog by letting them know each time you’ve made a new post. Guest write for other blogs to promote your own blog. And always ask people to share your blog with others.

6. Ask readers to reply. The more active your blog is, the more appealing it is to new and old readers alike. Always ask your readers to leave their comments on each of your blog posts. You might even consider running a contest to see who can write the best response, and give a prize to the winner.

Whatever it takes to increase comments is something you should consider. Not only does it make your blog appear that much more active and universally liked – it also provides a sense of ownership to each person who takes the time to leave a comment. The more they comment, the more likely they are to tell others about your blog and to return to your blog in the future. And be sure to respond to your reader’s comments so they know they’re being heard and appreciated.

7. Don’t blog unless you really want to. Blogging is a commitment, and while it might seem exciting and fun in the beginning, writing a new blog post every day or two can get old, especially after the first couple of weeks when you feel like nobody’s been reading it. If you’re not sure you can keep a blog rolling, consider writing guest posts for other blogs, websites and email newsletters. Every publisher is looking for new material, and being the guest blogger or writer puts you in front of an entirely new audience of prospects each time.

8. If you’re guest blogging, write a GREAT resource box. Offer them something intriguing with tremendous value for going to your site, and then deliver above and beyond their expectations. This is an excellent method of increasing your list of prospects and becoming well known in your niche.

9. Interview the big dogs. Interviewing others in your niche not only produces great content – it also provides you with powerful contacts and access to their readers when they mention the interview to their own people. So go ahead and ask others in your niche for interviews – the worst they can do is say no, and you’ll be surprised how many quickly say yes. Remember, they want to increase their own readership as well, and it’s a tremendous ego boost to be sought out and interviewed as an expert in their industry.

If there is a Tip #10, it is this: Have fun. Whatever it takes to make your blog writing fun is what you should do, since your enjoyment and passion for your topic will shine through in your posts. The more fun you’re having writing your blog, the more enjoyable it will be for readers to visit and linger.

So yes, have a blast, add humor, don’t be afraid to hold yourself up as an example to your readers, (both good and bad,) put your heart and soul into it, and go for it!